I was kind of rolling my eyes until I got to #9. That question will haunt me until my dying day.
“So I have a post idea for you,” a friend at the gym recently said to me. (Incidentally this friend is the only person I have ever seen do the Wicked Wiper in person and he can do like 15 of them. It’s crazy. The first time we saw him do it we all burst into spontaneous applause on the weight floor which was even more awkward considering we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet and so pretty much looked like total creepers.) Anyhow, I love love love it when people start with this sentence. Mostly because it can be finished in so many awesome ways. “…what’s the deal with coconut water?” (Good q! Still need to write this one!) “…who invented push-ups?” (Don’t know but if I ever meet them I’m going to sit on their back for added resistance.) and “…why don’t you write Jillian Michaels fan fiction?” (Didn’t know that was an actual thing but I find it weird to write fiction about real living people.)
But this time my friend finished it with “I’m so sick of my earphones falling out every three seconds when I’m working out! I’ve tried every type out there and I’ve never found a pair that will stay put. And I cannot workout without my tunes!” As a sweaty Betty myself, he had my instant sympathy. I didn’t even realize that I sweated out my ears until one long run outside where my ear buds fell out so many times I looked like I had an ear-cleaning tic shoving them back every few steps forcing me to finally remove my headband and put it over the top of my ears to hold them in. (This was not nearly as awkward as when I realized why wearing gray cotton yoga pants to TurboKick is a huge mistake. It was like a Rorschach ink blot test… on my lady bits.) Anyhow, while I do like cleaning out my ears – heaven help me if I find a rogue Q-tip somewhere, it’s total eargasm time – I really don’t want to do it while I’m running.
The fitness industry has come up with myriad ways to solve this problem. First were the original headphones – you know, the kind that attached to your Sony Walkman strapped to your fanny pack? But the cheap plastic and foam never stayed put and covering your whole ear made the sweat even worse. Next were the “sport headphones” that had the plastic ear piece that wraps around the outside of your ear but, as my friend pointed out, they don’t work with his glasses. And I must have weirdly shaped ears because they never stayed put on mine either. Then came the tiny little ear buds that you stick in your ear – the better to permanently maim your hearing with! – and all the ways they can fall out, get tangled up and lose the leeeetle foam covering deep in your ear canal. I finally broke down and bought some hot pink Skullcandy ones with the interchangeable rubber tips. They were cuter but they still fell out of my ears when I got good and sweaty.
My Fave Piece of Fitness Equipment
I didn’t have a good answer for him at the time but I wanted one because, like the Gym Buddies will attest, I cannot run Tabata sprints without music. If I can hear myself sucking wind I slow down so my mp3 player is my must-have accessory. The universe heard my cries however and rained down earphones like manna. Actually: DB Logic mailed me a pair of their SPL2 earphones to try out for free. I adore them. ADORE. (And no they are not paying me for this post.) For two reasons:
1. The unique design has you place the earbuds “upside down” in your ears so that the thin cords run up over your ears. There is a little slider where they meet behind your head so you can tighten it up keeping the earphones tightly in place – seriously no slippage through a 3 mile run AND Tabatas – and keeping the wires out of your way.
2. The SLP2 technology automatically limits the sound pressure to 85 decibels in your ears thereby preserving your hearing and preventing you from being that girl 5 treadmills down who you know freaking loves Eminem because you can hear every syllable from her earphones 20 feet away. Not saying I don’t appreciate that girl when I’ve forgotten my own music – except for the day she played non-stop Katy Perry – but I just don’t want to be that girl. Picking the music for the entire gym to listen to is a big responsibility is all I’m saying.
Plus, at $34.95 they’re not much more expensive than my Skullcandy ones and they also come in lots of fun colors and with interchangeable rubber tips to get the right fit.
Fit Pros’ Fave Piece of Fitness Equipment
While I may be manic about my music during a workout, everyone seems to have their one favorite fitness tool they can’t live without and who better to ask than people who make their living in the biz? Check out my slideshow on Shape.com to see what personal trainers and fitness instructors picked as their must-have tool . You need to read it just to see what Kirez Reynolds – CrossFit trainer extraordinaire – picked. When he first posted it on Facebook I thought he was just being a smart aleck but it turns out he was serious and has the photographic evidence to prove it . Seriously, he’s amazing.
What is YOUR Fave Piece of Exercise Equipment?
Do you have to turn around and go home if you forget the chest strap to your heart rate monitor? Do you love your interval timer so much that you refuse to wear it in your cleavage Zuzana-style so that your sweat won’t ruin it? Do you pack your TRX in your travel bag first even though the TSA will flag it just to ask you if you’re into bondage? Also, what’s your solution to the earphones-falling-out issue?
“So I have a post idea for you,” a friend at the gym recently said to me. (Incidentally this friend is the only person I have ever seen do the Wicked Wiper in person and he can do like 15 of them. It’s crazy. The first time we saw him do it we all burst into spontaneous applause on the weight floor which was even more awkward considering we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet and so pretty much looked like total creepers.) Anyhow, I love love love it when people start with this sentence. Mostly because it can be finished in so many awesome ways. “…what’s the deal with coconut water?” (Good q! Still need to write this one!) “…who invented push-ups?” (Don’t know but if I ever meet them I’m going to sit on their back for added resistance.) and “…why don’t you write Jillian Michaels fan fiction?” (Didn’t know that was an actual thing but I find it weird to write fiction about real living people.)
But this time my friend finished it with “I’m so sick of my earphones falling out every three seconds when I’m working out! I’ve tried every type out there and I’ve never found a pair that will stay put. And I cannot workout without my tunes!” As a sweaty Betty myself, he had my instant sympathy. I didn’t even realize that I sweated out my ears until one long run outside where my ear buds fell out so many times I looked like I had an ear-cleaning tic shoving them back every few steps forcing me to finally remove my headband and put it over the top of my ears to hold them in. (This was not nearly as awkward as when I realized why wearing gray cotton yoga pants to TurboKick is a huge mistake. It was like a Rorschach ink blot test… on my lady bits.) Anyhow, while I do like cleaning out my ears – heaven help me if I find a rogue Q-tip somewhere, it’s total eargasm time – I really don’t want to do it while I’m running.
The fitness industry has come up with myriad ways to solve this problem. First were the original headphones – you know, the kind that attached to your Sony Walkman strapped to your fanny pack? But the cheap plastic and foam never stayed put and covering your whole ear made the sweat even worse. Next were the “sport headphones” that had the plastic ear piece that wraps around the outside of your ear but, as my friend pointed out, they don’t work with his glasses. And I must have weirdly shaped ears because they never stayed put on mine either. Then came the tiny little ear buds that you stick in your ear – the better to permanently maim your hearing with! – and all the ways they can fall out, get tangled up and lose the leeeetle foam covering deep in your ear canal. I finally broke down and bought some hot pink Skullcandy ones with the interchangeable rubber tips. They were cuter but they still fell out of my ears when I got good and sweaty.
My Fave Piece of Fitness Equipment
I didn’t have a good answer for him at the time but I wanted one because, like the Gym Buddies will attest, I cannot run Tabata sprints without music. If I can hear myself sucking wind I slow down so my mp3 player is my must-have accessory. The universe heard my cries however and rained down earphones like manna. Actually: DB Logic mailed me a pair of their SPL2 earphones to try out for free. I adore them. ADORE. (And no they are not paying me for this post.) For two reasons:
1. The unique design has you place the earbuds “upside down” in your ears so that the thin cords run up over your ears. There is a little slider where they meet behind your head so you can tighten it up keeping the earphones tightly in place – seriously no slippage through a 3 mile run AND Tabatas – and keeping the wires out of your way.
2. The SLP2 technology automatically limits the sound pressure to 85 decibels in your ears thereby preserving your hearing and preventing you from being that girl 5 treadmills down who you know freaking loves Eminem because you can hear every syllable from her earphones 20 feet away. Not saying I don’t appreciate that girl when I’ve forgotten my own music – except for the day she played non-stop Katy Perry – but I just don’t want to be that girl. Picking the music for the entire gym to listen to is a big responsibility is all I’m saying.
Plus, at $34.95 they’re not much more expensive than my Skullcandy ones and they also come in lots of fun colors and with interchangeable rubber tips to get the right fit.
Fit Pros’ Fave Piece of Fitness Equipment
While I may be manic about my music during a workout, everyone seems to have their one favorite fitness tool they can’t live without and who better to ask than people who make their living in the biz? Check out my slideshow on Shape.com to see what personal trainers and fitness instructors picked as their must-have tool . You need to read it just to see what Kirez Reynolds – CrossFit trainer extraordinaire – picked. When he first posted it on Facebook I thought he was just being a smart aleck but it turns out he was serious and has the photographic evidence to prove it . Seriously, he’s amazing.
What is YOUR Fave Piece of Exercise Equipment?
Do you have to turn around and go home if you forget the chest strap to your heart rate monitor? Do you love your interval timer so much that you refuse to wear it in your cleavage Zuzana-style so that your sweat won’t ruin it? Do you pack your TRX in your travel bag first even though the TSA will flag it just to ask you if you’re into bondage? Also, what’s your solution to the earphones-falling-out issue?